


Fire

by crownedSerpent09



Series: svt a:tla au [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, M/M, Multi, Political Intrigue, Pre-Relationship, set during avatar kyoshi's era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-21 21:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13152135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedSerpent09/pseuds/crownedSerpent09
Summary: The Earth Kingdom is about to undergo a civil war. A prince, a genius strategist, the youngest firebending master of the current generation, and a student prodigy are sent to stop it.





	1. One

“I hear the Earth Kingdom is about to undergo a civil war,” says Arwen, sidling up without paying any mind to the spout of fire streaming from Minghao’s extended fist. He yelps as one of the tongues of flame gets too close to comfort, almost singeing off half his eyebrow.

Minghao ignores his indignant exclamation in favor of finishing his set with a controlled exhale, hands pushing down from his chest to the bottom of his stomach in time with his breath. Only then does he turn to face his classmate and the gossip Arwen is no doubt all too eager to share. “The Earth King actually considers Chin ‘The Conqueror’ a threat now?”

Arwen’s pout dissolves as Minghao engages him. “Nah, that guy’s a fool, and the Earth King knows it. But I heard some of the governors of the western states are getting antsy because Chin’s coming for them next, and most of them are loyal to the Earth King. I think, if they do start fighting, they might ask for our help.”

Minghao raises an eyebrow. “Why the hell would they want our help? It’s a civil war, dumbass. That means fighting with _in_ a country.”

Arwen’s sulky expression returns in full force. “Well, it’s just what I think. If we do join in to help the Earth King, maybe they’ll let  _us_ fight. It’s high time the Fire Nation saw their _new_ generation of heroes.” He strikes a pose, grinning widely and looking off into the distance.

Minghao lets him dream for about two seconds before slapping him across one cheek. “Snap out of it. What are you going on about, ‘new generation of heroes?’ You can’t even sustain a fire blast for more than three seconds.”

Arwen scowls, and Minghao dimly registers him going off on stuttering tangent about how not all master firebenders need to create giant fire blasts that last minutes, some of the greatest masters used their brains and ingenuity, thank you very much, but Minghao’s attention is focused elsewhere. “Soonyoung!” he calls to his subject of interest, leaving his dithering classmate without another glance.

His senior turns from where he is rummaging through a box of arm guards, an easy smile spreading over his face as he beholds Minghao. “Hey, Minghao. What are you doing here? I thought your class finished hours ago?”

Minghao stops a whole metre away from Soonyoung, standing with his feet together and hands clasped behind his back. He can’t stop the smile that creeps onto his face at the sight of his favorite senior and, at times, teacher. “It did, but I stayed back to practice a few sets by myself. I guess I kind of lost track of time. What are you up to?”

Soonyoung goes back to the box of arm guards, picking through various scorched and scratched pieces before he finally finds a set of forearm and upper arm guards in the least sorry condition. “I don’t have anything to do until dinner, so I figured I’ll come here and help out all the poor first and second years who are forced to stay back and practice until they perfected the sets.”

“Ah.” Minghao emits a noise of understanding. The first and second year teachers at the Royal Firebending Academy are notoriously difficult. The Academy works under the notion that you have to start out harsh in order to establish a perfect foundation, then be gentler in refinement later on. Sure enough, Minghao's own teachers are noticeably warmer towards their students and more forgiving towards mistakes. “Thank spirits we have you then, Soonyoung. Hey, since I’m done with my sets now, can I help you?”

“That’ll be great, Minghao! But, wait, aren’t you tired from spending an entire afternoon bending? Maybe you should get some rest first.” Soonyoung places a hand on Minghao’s forehead, as if checking his temperature. Minghao’s skin tingles under the touch, and he fights to keep the blush off his face.

“It’s no problem,” Minghao says nonchalantly. “I’m barely even sweating.”

Soonyoung fans his own face, where a few drops have already appeared at his hairline just for being in a room where there’s a lot of firebending activity. “What wouldn’t I give to have that luck.”

They tutor the young students for the next hour and a half: correcting forms, demonstrating better breathing technique, and occasionally blowing out little puffs of fire to amuse the stressed and fatigued first and second years. Although they gradually split up to work at different sides of the practice hall, Minghao can’t stop his eyes from wandering back to Soonyoung. The other firebender happens to be particularly attractive while teaching, the focused expression Soonyoung wears doing funny things to Minghao’s heart. He recalls his own first sessions with Soonyoung back when he first joined the Academy. Although Minghao was somewhat of a firebending prodigy and was placed with the third years immediately after entering, there were times when he relied more on his raw talent than practice and refinement. At first, Soonyoung’s intense gaze during made him even more nervous than he already was around the firebending master (Soonyoung was one of the youngest in Fire Nation history to achieve that title, and the youngest currently living master), but he soon built up immunity and began flourishing under Soonyoung’s guidance. Soonyoung and Minghao never became more than casual friends, but Minghao always cherishes time with Soonyoung.

As hour for dinner approaches, two newcomers enter the practice hall, drawing somewhat of a commotion. Minghao stops coaching a second year on the proper starting stance for a firebending kick to look up at the door. There stands the cousin to the Fire Lord and youngest general of the Fire Nation Army, Prince Seungcheol, and the nation’s genius strategist, Lord Jihoon. They also happened to be Soonyoung’s best friends.

Minghao watches the three with interest as Soonyoung joins his friends. Both Prince Seungcheol and Lord Jihoon are non-benders, and they rarely visit the Academy outside of official purposes. Which means there is a specific reason they came to fetch Soonyoung at this time. Minghao briefly reconsiders Arwen’s words to him earlier, then just as quickly dismisses the idea. Even if the Earth Kingdom has finally descended into the long-awaited civil war, it would be some time before any of them would involve the other nations, knowing how proud and stubborn the Earth Kingdom citizens are.

Whispers break out all over the room as the three discuss something for several moments at the doorway, no doubt over the contents of said discussion. Minghao is just contemplating the pros and cons and creeping forward to eavesdrop when Soonyoung suddenly breaks out of the circle and makes eye contact with _Minghao_. With his bright grin still in place, Soonyoung waves Minghao over.

Minghao’s eyes shift from side to side as if trying to figure out who Soonyoung is looking at, even though he knows it’s him. He finally focuses back on Soonyoung and points to himself with his eyebrows raised, as if asking, “Me?”

“Yes, you,” Soonyoung mouths back, and Minghao makes his way across the room to join the circle.

He bows twice, once to Prince Seungcheol and once to Lord Jihoon, his right fist and open left palm connected in front of his chest. The two give cursory bows back.

“We want you to come with us to the Earth Kingdom.” Soonyoung launches into it right away.

“What for?” Minghao asks, Arwen’s crazy idea once again permeating his thoughts.

“To stop a civil war.” It’s Lord Jihoon that answers, and his eyes leave no room for uncertainty.

 

“The official premise of our visit is the celebration of the 70-year anniversary of the Earth-Fire Trade Accords,” Prince Seungcheol says standing in front of the spread of luxuriously-made dishes the servants had just carefully laid out. After Lord Jihoon’s definitive statement, the dinner bell had rung, causing the occupants of the practice hall to all begin surging towards the door. Prince Seungcheol suggested they move to his quarters, where they could eat and discuss the trip in peace.

“Kind of an obvious front,” Soonyoung says from Minghao’s side. They both had already taken places on the mats in front of the table, with Lord Jihoon settling down across from Minghao. Both Lord Jihoon and Soonyoung are not looking at the prince. While Soonyoung’s attention is dominated by the food they just arrived, Lord Jihoon is staring unsettlingly at Minghao, examining every feature of his face and upper body. “The 70th anniversary of some trade deal is hardly enough to warrant a visit from a prince,” Soonyoung continues.

“Yeah, well, it’s the Earth King. Not a guy totally equipped with better knowledge of the minds of his subjects.” Prince Seungcheol picks up a teacup from the table, then puts it down without drinking. “The Earth King is finally feeling threatened enough in his position, with Chin rampaging through the east, conquering state after state, and the peasant rebellions occurring in the towns around his own city. Ba Sing Se is as tightlocked as ever, but we can be sure the rebellions have probably extended into the city. On top of all that, the western states are calling for decisive action against Chin.”

“Why can’t he take decisive action against Chin?” Soonyoung asks. “At this point, we can all see that Avatar Kyoshi isn’t going to take part in this conflict. He has to deal with Chin on his own.”

“His army’s defected,” Lord Jihoon says. “The Earth Kingdom doesn’t want anyone to know it, but from our accounts of Chin’s army, it’s much too large and well-equipped to be just some ragtag bunch of Earth King dissenters Chin whipped up from the state militias and peasants. Lucky for the Earth King, Chin seems to focusing on conquering the states, who have their own militias to defend themselves, not that it does any good. And people hate the Earth King enough that his inaction barely influences the public’s opinion on him.”

“It’s understandable why the western states are feeling threatened, then,” Soonyoung muses. “If their own militias fail them, they won’t be getting help from the Earth King, loyalty or no loyalty. And the rebellions in Ba Sing Se --- well, Chin can’t breach the walls, but what does that matter if the Earth King can be done in from within?”

“Right. In any case, the Earth King will probably ask for our help during this so-called celebration,” Prince Seungcheol says. “And the Fire Lord is sending us there, which means he wants us to listen to whatever reasoning and offers the Earth King comes up with.”

“But why would the Fire Lord even consider getting involved at all?” Minghao asks, speaking for the first time since they arrived in the prince's chambers. Three pairs of eyes turn toward him, and he flushes. “My apologies. I spoke out of turn.”

“No, no, go ahead and ask any questions you like,” Soonyoung assures him. “I know it must be slightly confusing for you.”

Minghao bites back the sarcastic comment that rises in his mouth and simply inclines his head in Soonyoung’s direction.

Prince Seungcheol speaks up. “Under ordinary circumstances, the Fire Lord would allow Earth Kingdom affairs to remain Earth Kingdom affairs. But with the wedding between his son and the Crown Princess of the Earth Kingdom coming up, the Fire Lord feels it is his duty to be concerned with the well-being of the Earth King’s dynasty.”

 _Ah, right_ , Minghao thinks. The heirs of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom have been engaged for four years, long enough that Minghao and most of the Fire Nation citizens have stopped expecting the announcement of their wedding date. It seems though, a date has now been set.

“This is all very interesting and all,” Minghao says next, “but why me? I’m just a regular student at the Academy; this all sounds way out of my jurisdiction.”

“Not just any student,” Lord Jihoon says, his flat tone setting Minghao on edge. “Soonyoung says you’re a firebending prodigy, almost as good as he is.”

Despite the fact that Minghao never humbles himself or his firebending talent, he blushes. “That’s an overexaggeration. I’m a long way from becoming the firebending master Soonyoung is.”

“In any case, Soonyoung trusts you, for some reason.” The last part is uttered under Lord Jihoon’s breath, and Minghao holds himself back from taking offense with great pain. “This will be a purely diplomatic mission, so we normally wouldn’t take any guards. However, unrest in the Earth Kingdom is always worse than its officials would let on, so we’re not taking any chances. The Fire Lord told Seungcheol to only bring only those he trusts, given the politically delicate nature of this situation, and we’re not close with any of the Royal Guards. You are skilled enough in firebending that combined with Soonyoung’s mastery and mine and Seungcheol’s own defenses, we will be able to get out of most situations unscathed. So it’s you.”

Minghao digests this with his usual heavy dose of skepticism. Prince Seungcheol is supposed to bring only those he trusts, yet he barely knows Minghao. His trust in Soonyoung must be complete enough, then, for him to trust Soonyoung’s judgment on a stranger.

“Okay,” Minghao finally agrees. “I’ll go with you. One thing, though: my graduation ceremony is in two months, so I’ll need to return before my final examinations start.” He didn’t work his ass off for seven years to _not_ graduate the Academy.

“No problem,” Soonyoung beams. “How many feasts and negotiation talks can the Earth King throw at us anyway?”

“You’re okay with missing two months of material before your final examinations?” Prince Seungcheol asks, seemingly genuinely concerned.

Minghao waves a hand lazily. “There’s hardly anything left to learn; it’s mostly all review. We only have one concept to go over: lightning bending. But the teachers don’t expect us to master that for the exams anyway.”

“Lucky for you, you have the best lightning bending master in the nation to teach you that: me. I’m sure you’ll ace those examinations and graduate with honors.” Soonyoung attempts to ruffle his hair proudly, toppling into his lap as Minghao moves away from his senior’s over-enthusiastic motions. Although his hair remained unbothered, the move happens to be a mistake, as the sudden proximity sends another surge of blood into Minghao’s face. Soonyoung, in contrast, seems unperturbed as he firmly grips Minghao’s thighs in order to hoist himself back into sitting position, almost making the younger jump out of his skin.

From across the table, Lord Jihoon stares at the exchange, a thoroughly unimpressed expression on his face. Prince Seungcheol picks up his teacup again, using the action of drinking as an excuse to look away.

 

Five eel hounds snort and paw at the ground in front of the Great Doors of Capital City. Soonyoung, Prince Seungcheol, Lord Jihoon, as well as the two attendants that will be traveling with them to care for the animals were already at the Doors, awaiting Minghao’s arrival. The attendants will stay with the eel hounds in the servants quarters of the Earth Kingdom Palace, far from the political goings-on that the prince’s entourage will be privy to. Minghao hurriedly trots up the path to them, his pack bouncing against his back with every step.

“Good morning!” Soonyoung greets him first, shielding his eyes with one hand against the brightness of the morning sun. He is in his usual practice robes, though Minghao notices that both Prince Seungcheol and Lord Jihoon are in light armor, the prince looking especially refined. _He has a better judgment on public appearances than the Earth King, at least_ , Minghao thinks wryly.

“Morning,” Minghao says, then bows to the prince and lord again.

“Ah, you don’t have to keep doing that,” Prince Seungcheol says with a grin, looking much more carefree than he did last night. “At least not when we’re alone. And no formal titles either --- just call me Seungcheol.”

“See Jihoon, Seungcheol’s got it right,” Soonyoung says cheerily, leaping onto an eel hound. “If we’re all friends the trip won’t be so boring.”

Jihoon scowls as he mounts another eel hound. “We just met. How can you expect us to become friends right away?”

“Well, we did, didn’t we?” Soonyoung turns to Minghao, not giving Jihoon a chance to disagree. “Don’t use formalities with him, either.”

Minghao flashes him a smirk and focuses on the eel hound in front of him. Copying Soonyoung’s movements earlier, he jumps and grabs onto the raised front edge of the saddle, pulling himself over until he’s straddling the beast. He ties his pack to the back and wraps the reins around one hand.

“Let’s go,” Seungcheol orders from atop his own mount, and with the two attendants sharing the saddle on the last eel hound, they face the Great Doors and pass out into the world.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah it's been a year since i first posted this but second chapter ayyy

Soonyoung brings up the question of Minghao’s training in lightning bending again not even three days into their week-long journey to the eastern edge of the Fire Nation islands. They’re settling down in a copse of trees in the hills next to a small mining village and unpacking what they need to have lunch when the firebending master sidles up to where Minghao is untying his pack from his eel hound and excitedly proclaims that he will begin teaching Minghao how to bend lightning now.

The announcement stirs up interest in the attendants, and one of them shuffles over to take Minghao’s eel hound out of his hands, peeping curiously at the firebenders from the corner of his eyes. Even Prince Seungcheol pauses for a second while inspecting a bag of apples before resuming his movements like he isn’t listening in.

“N-now?” Minghao stutters, very intelligently.

“I’ve been waiting for us to get away from the big cities for days,” Soonyoung says. “With less people around, we can get to seriously training.”

“Soonyoung, there are villages all around us,” Lord Jihoon says from his perch at the side of the clearing. He’s sitting on a flat, dark rock with his feet propped on the log in front of him and a teacup at his side. “Don’t you think the people will be shocked when they suddenly see lightning shooting out from the trees on a clear day?”

“Aw, they’re used to it,” Soonyoung dismisses. “I used to practice in the woods near small villages all the time when I was on my training sojourn.” He embellishes the last part with some jazz hands. Minghao hates that he is hopelessly endeared. “So, what do you say, Minghao?”

Minghao goes to place his pack in the pile with their other luggage. “I guess I’m up for it. Let’s start.”

“Call me ‘Master,’” Soonyoung says with a devious smirk.

Minghao feels his soul struggling to escape his body. Perhaps he’s made a terrible mistake. “Let’s start, M-master.”

Soonyoung tightens the ribbon around his waist that fastens close his training robes, shifting into a ready position. “Show me what you’ve got.”

 

“Lightning is cold fire,” Soonyoung explains, moving Minghao’s arm up to a more precise starting stance. “It is lethal. While lightning bending, you must be disciplined and completely in control, or it will consume you.” Soonyoung sweeps a leg out to hook around one of Minghao’s. Minghao stands firm. “Good, your stance is perfect.”

“While firebending draws from the breath and your passion, emotions, and internal drive, lightning bending draws directly from your chi paths and energy,” Soonyoung continues. His tone is deadly serious, face set with grim determination. All traces of laughter were gone from his blank expression. “It is a skill that draws on apathy. Any emotions that interfere with the equanimity of your mind puts you in danger. You  _ mustn’t _ let the lightning touch your heart.” Soonyoung jabs at the middle of Minghao’s back with two fingers, directly behind his heart. Minghao feels a shock spread through his entire body, his muscles tensing in surprise.

“What a horrible sensation, wasn’t it?” Soonyoung says as he comes back into Minghao’s line of sight. He has a half-smirk on his face that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “That, times a thousand, is what you’ll feel when you get shocked in the heart.”

“Wh— How?” Minghao asks, stepping out of his starting stance to return feeling back into his limbs after being immobilized by the shock.

“I targeted an intersection in your chi paths,” Soonyoung explains. “Now that you know the dangers of lightning bending, you are ready to try it.”

Minghao opens his mouth, ready to ask for more instructions on how exactly to do this, before snapping it closed. He gets into the starting position again, everything Soonyoung has just said circling in his mind.

He is a firebending prodigy. Kwon Soonyoung, the nation’s youngest firebending master, trusts in his skills. He can do this on the first try.

His eyes flutter close, and he inhales deeply. As the air rushes into his lungs, he feels the paths of energy that wind through his whole body, and he taps into them. He extends the arm that was in front of his chest while simultaneously shifting his stance forward, feeling his energy move along with his limbs. He concentrates all his energy on his fingertips and shoots it out.

Nothing happens. He stands with his knees bent, one lunged out, and one arm extended all the way, leaning all the way forward. The foolishness of his position catches up to him and he quickly retracts his limbs, trying to ignore the burning in his ears.

“That was a good first attempt,” Soonyoung smiles.

“Really? I literally did nothing,” is Minghao’s surly retort.

“Hey, lightning bending is very advanced,” Soonyoung says. “You—or anyone really—can’t expect to get it on the first try. Let’s go again.”

“Fine,” Minghao says and gets into the proper stance again. He’s confident that he’ll get it soon, at least.

Minghao furiously attempts to shoot out lightning for the next hour and a half. Even with Soonyoung’s sage advice and patient encouragement with him all the while, Minghao cannot create even a little spark. As his confidence decreases, his embarrassment goes the other way. Minghao finally gets a chance to train exclusively under Soonyoung, the person he admires most in the whole Fire Nation, and he’s royally botching it. Moreover, he can’t figure out why lightning bending is posing such a problem for him in the first place. While Minghao can’t claim to master every firebending form and technique at once, he usually does so after a few tries, at most. With lightning bending, he understands the concepts behind it to a tee, having read up on it even before Soonyoung started teaching him, yet he cannot, for the life of him, create lightning.

Both Minghao and Soonyoung are determined to keep going until Minghao can produce at least a small flicker of electricity, but they are forced to stop when Lorn Jihoon finally takes his feet off his log, heavy armored boots thudding on the dirt ground. “Enough. Let’s eat already. My tea's gone cold.”

“You like your tea cold, anyway,” Prince Seungcheol quips even as he jumps up to help their attendants unpack the food.

“Like my heart,” Lord Jihoon returns.

“Aw, stop the act,” Soonyoung says. “We all know you’re a softie at heart, Jihoonie.” Lord Jihoon throws a rock at him for that, which Soonyoung dodges with a giggle. Somehow, Minghao doubts that.

Soonyoung turns to Minghao, big grin still on his face. “We’ll pick up the lesson again tomorrow, okay Minghao? Don’t get discouraged.”

“Yeah, for sure,” is Minghao’s tired reply. Soonyoung goes to ruffle his hair, and this time, Minghao doesn’t swat him away.

As they start to sit in a circle and Minghao is looking over fondly at Soonyoung cooking some sausages with his bending, Minghao feels Lord Jihoon’s gaze on him again. And he’s definitely glaring.

 

Lord Jihoon definitely has something against him, Minghao concludes over the next few days, and it may be a problem.

When they’re riding through the Fire Nation on their eel hounds, Jihoon always has to be in front of him, even almost nudging Minghao off the road while passing him once. When they converse and joke around the campfire at night, Lord Jihoon always seems keen on debating Minghao on whatever point the firebending student happens to bring up. And while Minghao can certainly hold his own in an argument, Jihoon always ends up shooting him down with ironclad logic that carefully envelopes a snide pass at Minghao’s inferior position. Prince Seungcheol has held true to what he said on the first day and insists on Minghao speaking informally to him, a practice that Lord Jihoon constantly sneers at when he witnesses it. Despite what Soonyoung said, Minghao has not tried to do the same with Lord Jihoon due to a mutual understanding that Lord Jihoon will end him if he even entertains the thought.

Minghao still has not made any progress on his lightning bending, even after they reached the Eastern Temples and Soonyoung and him received the wisdom of the Fire Sages. The firebending master is just as perplexed as Minghao on why he cannot put his perfect understanding of the theory behind lightning bending to practice. Although Soonyoung maintains that the skill is highly advanced and it is to be expected that only a few people in the world can master it, it is clear that with Minghao’s practical prowess and degree of control over himself, Soonyoung anticipated that Minghao would easily be able to bend lightning. One upside to his failure, though, is that Minghao has an excuse to spend more time with Soonyoung. As they boarded the ship that will transfer them from the Fire Nation islands to Earth Kingdom lands, Soonyoung extended their lesson times into the time that they used to spend riding, so that he spent most of his days with Minghao.

Lord Jihoon’s disapproval over this development is palpable. Although he does not try to actively interfere with the lessons, Lord Jihoon is determined to command Soonyoung’s attention every moment outside of them, often drawing Soonyoung into Prince Seungcheol’s chambers with the promise of some game as soon as dinner is over that Minghao is not invited to join.

Prince Seungcheol, for his part, doesn’t seem surprised by Lord Jihoon’s distaste for Minghao as Soonyoung is the few times he catches on. While he is infinitely friendlier to the student than his strategist, Minghao is soon aware of a certain chilliness that dominates his conversations with the prince. At first, Minghao chalked it up to a natural result of being a part of the royal family, a guardedness that is engendered by having your every action scrutinized by the citizens of your country, but Minghao soon began to see that Prince Seungcheol doesn’t insert the same chilliness in his interactions with the attendants and other members of the crew and that it seems to increase exponentially with the amount of time Minghao happened to spend with Soonyoung.

Altogether, Minghao’s findings are…surprising, to say the least. The entire time that he’s been with them, Minghao has never seen Lord Jihoon or Prince Seungcheol exhibit any romantic inclinations toward his firebending master besides their unusual possessiveness. If anything, he would guess that they had more than platonic feelings toward…each other. Lord Jihoon is an avid opponent of touching of any kind, even from Soonyoung, but he allows Prince Seungcheol to place a hand on his shoulder when they’re talking, a hand his thigh when they’re sitting next to each other, a hand cupping the back of his neck when they’re standing side-by-side. Besides that, the glances Prince Seungcheol sends Lord Jihoon while they’re having some sort of silent conversation over meals are fraught with a kind of tension that makes Minghao uncomfortable just being in the same room as them. And according to what Minghao’s heard and confirmed by Soonyoung, the two basically grew together in the palace with shared tutors and military academy after that.

From what Minghao could see, the relationship between the three is that of a group of close friends who understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and accept them without reproach. There doesn’t seem to be any weird tension between them, sexual or romantic or otherwise. Alas, Minghao is at a lost to why two out of three seem to have an issue with him.

But then Soonyoung flashes a smile at him, or places a hand on his stomach to adjust his core, and Minghao stops pondering his potential problems.

After all, he’s here to do a job and then go.

 

On their fifth day at sea, they reach an island on the southern edge of the Earth Kingdom. They’ve been told that sailing around the southern edge and then making their way north along the East is faster than traveling directly to Ba Sing Se on land, so their route now gives them the chance to meet Avatar Kyoshi on her home turf.

The first thing Minghao sees of Kyoshi Island is the giant statue of her namesake, facing out to sea. It seems that the statue isn’t entirely finished, as her head and half her torso remains to be painted, and small figures dangle on ropes fastened to the top of her headpiece with large buckets of green pigment.

When they dock, they are greeted by a small congregation who are there to see the spectacle that is a Fire Nation ship, no doubt. The mayor and a few of his employees invite Prince Seungcheol and his party to dine together at the best hotel in town. Minghao knows that all that follows are formalities, so he takes this chance to slip away and explore the town on his own.

The streets of the town are wide, bordered by plainly but elegantly decorated wooden buildings painted in various shades of green, brown, and gray.  _ Easily flammable _ , his brain supplies. Most of the townspeople ignore him as he slinks by, but a few children turn their curious eyes on the red and black of his attire. He’s just turned into what looks like a bustling street market when he collides face-first into a broad back.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” the owner of said back yells at him, whipping around.

Minghao wrinkles his nose at the faint whiff of sweat he got when he came into contact with the man—no, boy—and takes in his appearance. The first thing Minghao notices is his height. Combined with his sturdy build, this guy’s body didn’t seem to match the boyish face attached to it. Everything about the lines of his face is elegant, and if it weren’t for his calloused hands and the dirt on his clothes and his—well,  _ everywhere _ , Minghao would assumed he was nobility. “My bad. But maybe you shouldn’t stop in the middle of the street where people are walking,” Minghao snarks back.

The boy keeps yelling. “Middle of the street? This isn’t—” Just then, an elderly lady walks past with a disapproving glance, whipping her grocery cart pointedly around the two of them. The boy’s mouth snaps shut sheepishly.

Minghao raises an eyebrow. “You were saying?”

“Shut up,” the boy groans. “I don’t have time to deal with you. The mayor pushed forward the deadline for the statue  _ again _ . Like what did he expect? That a giant statue of our great avatar built halfway in the ocean would be easy to build? And he won’t even give me more workers to paint the damn thing like just let Mingyu do everything! I’m just one artist, am I supposed to paint hundreds of feet of surface area on my own?” As soon as he’s done with his rant, the boy—Mingyu—is hit with the firebender’s utterly unimpressed expression. “Sorry for going off like that. I’m just stressed because—”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you. What if I help you paint your statue or whatever?”

“What? You would do that?”

“Yeah, I got nothing to do until they’re done getting supplies for my ship.”

“O-okay,” Mingyu acquiesces, still baffled. “Come with me then.” He makes no move to go, simply staring at Minghao with his mouth open.

“I’m Minghao.”

“Oh, cool. Um, nice to meet you.” Mingyu holds out his hand.

Minghao swats it away and points down the street. “We going to paint your statue or what?”

“R-right.” Mingyu flushes, deep pink blooming across his tan cheeks. He turns stiffly and starts walking off.

Minghao rolls his eyes one last time before following the giant.

 

“You have green paint on your cheek,” Soonyoung says when Minghao meets up with his party again. He reaches a hand out out to wipe it off, red erupting on Minghao’s cheek where Soonyoung touches him.

“Uh, thanks,” Minghao says, unequivocally witty.

“Who’s your new friend?” Soonyoung asks, smiling at a jittery Mingyu who remained at Minghao’s side even when they were done for the day. All that remained was to paint Kyoshi’s head, which Mingyu declared he was going to do on his own, as it was the most important part of the statue, right after her feet. The boy was notably less stressed by this point, enough so that he insisted on following Minghao around under the show of “showing him around the island.”

“I’m Kim Mingyu.” He extends a hand out like he did with Minghao. Soonyoung shakes it. “Are you the prince?”

Soonyoung laughs. “Oh no. But can you imagine? Prince Soonyoung.”

Minghao imagines for a second before quickly stopping his train of thought, which had delved into eight-year-old girl fantasyland too quickly for his liking. The red in his cheeks has yet to go down. “Stupid. He might’ve been a prince and you go to shake his hand?”

“Hey, I was just being friendly,” Mingyu protested.

“Cheol,” Soonyoung calls out as the prince and Lord Jihoon approach. “Come shake Mingyu’s hand.”

Prince Seungcheol accepts Mingyu’s extended arm with an easy smile. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“See?” Mingyu turns to Minghao as he’s still shaking Prince Seungcheol’s hand. “This guy’s friendly. I’m Kim Mingyu of Kyoshi Island, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Prince Seungcheol of the Fire Nation.”

Mingyu releases Seungcheol’s hand as if he had been scalded and drops into a deep bow. “My apologies, Your Highness, I didn’t know! Oh my god, why did I shake your hand?”

Seungcheol pats Mingyu on the back and let’s him know it’s okay even as Minghao cackles at his plight. Soonyoung lets out a few giggles and throws an arm around Minghao’s shoulders. Minghao’s laugh instantly cuts out with a choke.

“Let’s go eat,” Soonyoung says into the side of Minghao’s neck, steering him indoors.

The mayor and a group of what appeared to be the important people of the town had turned up to dine with the prince’s party, who all wanted to know what the Fire Nation guests thought of the encroaching war.

“Does the Earth King really believe that the western states will turn on the rest of the kingdom?” the mayor asks Prince Seungcheol.

“Wouldn’t you, as Earth Kingdom citizens, have a better idea?” Seungcheol says. “Given that we are yet to have spoken with the Earth King, I’m afraid I can’t tell you what he thinks of the situation at all.”

“What about the Fire Nation? Are you really planning to help the Earth King if war does break out?” the owner of the hotel they’re staying at asks next.

“The Earth King has yet to submit a formal request. But given the goodwill that we hope to maintain between our two nations, the Fire Nation will of course be open to negotiations should the Earth King choose to open them.”

“Because the prince and princess are going to be married soon, right?” someone else says.

“Of course it’s because of the marriage. The Fire Nation has no reason to get involved otherwise,” the man sitting next to her replies.

“To think this is all happening because of that upstart Chin, who Avatar Kyoshi said wasn’t a big threat…” came a murmur from the other side of the room.

“Well, she was wrong, wasn’t she?”

“What’s wrong with you, you can’t just question the Avatar’s judgment like that!”

“I think Avatar Kyoshi needs to do something about this Chin before he causes anymore chaos. That’s what the Avatar does, isn’t it?”

“No one asked what you think.”

“Enough!” the mayor exclaims. “I will not have anyone questioning Avatar Kyoshi’s actions. She’s wiser and more powerful than anyone here—than anyone in the world.”

“They raise an interesting point,” Lord Jihoon says. Everyone falls silent, attention turned to him. “What is Avatar Kyoshi’s stance on this issue, especially now that the Earth Kingdom is on the brink of civil war?”

No one speaks. The mayor seems taken aback at Lord Jihoon’s directness, while the hotel owner stares at his plate. If Minghao didn’t know better, it feels like the townspeople are avoiding the question.

“She doesn’t want to confront the issue.” A voice from Minghao’s side breaks the silence. He looks over to see Mingyu with his eyes glued to his plate, pressing finger-shaped dents into the dinner roll in his hand with how hard he’s gripping it. “The last time I spoke to her, she dismissed the issue. Said politics is an unfortunate given in human existence and that she can’t do anything to help it. There are bigger fish to fry.”

His statement is followed by more silence. Minghao can tell that the mayor wishes Mingyu hadn’t spoken up. It makes sense; Avatar Kyoshi is their hero and they don’t want to confront the possibility that she is making a mistake.

“Well, that’s bullshit,” Lord Jihoon declares drily.


End file.
